Asuna

N / A : Yo, I want to write something special in chapter 10, which will also be the boss fight, so it might take a while to come out, ciao~

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''Hi, can I join your group?''

A melodious female voice caught Kirito and Silica by surprise, a person in a long cape with a burgundy hood approached them, the cape hiding both the person's body and face, but from the voice, one can assume it's a girl.

''Ara~, and who migh you be ?''

The girl looks like she wants to answer, but then she hesitates and got silent.

Rory looks at the hesitant girl and flashes a playful smile, ''Little girl~, we don't need an aspiring Batman on our team~sorry!'' Rory apologizes with her hands together.

The girl freezes for a few seconds and then starts shaking.

''L-Little girl...? A-Aspiring Batman?'' the girl mutters. She clenches her fists tightly and tries hard not to curse Rory, who is younger than her, at least, that's what she thinks.

''Fufu~, No need to be angry I'm just kidding~'' Rory giggles at the girl's reaction, then turns serious,'' But I wasn't kidding about the part about you hiding your identity. If you think we can trust our backs to someone who hides behind a cloak like a coward, then you're crazy.''

''Oy Rory, don't be so hard on her, everyone has their reasons...'' Kirito tries to ease some of the tension that exists between the two girls, but it is completely ignored.

And Silica, who is being ignored by everyone, sat next to Rory as she happily enjoyed a bread with cream that Rory had gotten for her.

The girl looks into Rory's eyes and sees that she is serious.

She really wanted to find a team she would trust, but unfortunately, as narcissistic as it sounds, she is afraid that others will only team up with her because of her beauty, or because of her status outside the game.

But what's the point of looking for people to trust if she doesn't take the first step?

Thinking about it, the girl sighs and stops hesitating, ''What you say is true. If it were me, I wouldn't trust a person who hides, I apologize.'' she bows to Rory.

Rory smiled and then did something unexpected to everyone, she suddenly started stroking the hooded head of the girl who was bending towards her, ''It's okay~ as long as you understand, little girl~''

The girl then once again began to shake with rage, she really want to punch Rory now, and Rory, sensing the girl's anger and shame, smiled even more brightly.

The girl then stops bending, and takes off her hood.

When she took off her hood, it was like the world stopped. Big, silky blond hair, a perfectly chiseled face, and big, cute, honey-colored eyes.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the girl who had just taken off her hood, even Kirito, who prefers 2D girls, was delighted.

Murmurs about the girl began to circle quickly around the small coliseum

''Hey, who is that beauty?''

''Woah, she is beautiful....''

''Do you think if we invited her, she would join our group?''

''Kuuh...! That black haired boy is surrounded by cute girls, I'm so envyous! Bastard!''

Rory looked at her, no reaction at all, ''...Are you going to introduce yourself or are you going to stand there looking at me?''

A vein burst in the girl's head, she raised her fist and was squeezing so hard, she unconsciously lost some of her HP.

In just a minute of conversation and she's already on the edge, she just wanted to join Rory's group, because there are only three girls on this meeting, which is her, Silica and Rory, that's why she asked to join the team. But watching Rory's playful smile, she already regrets having made that decision.

She knows that....no, she's sure, if she join her Party, Rory would tease her all the time!

But unfortunately, she didn't have a choice, it was either Rory....or the guys who are looking at her with lewd eyes.

She calms down and takes a deep breath, ''My name is Asuna. Please let me join your team.''

She looks at Rory and waits for an answer.

Rory, seeing the girl's determined look, smile and answer:

''I refuse!''

''Thank-Ehh?!?!'' Asuna was about to bow down to say thanks when she realized what Rory had said.

''Nah-Gah-Why?!?!'' Asuna almost choked on the sassy face of Rory who was smiling as she rejected her.

But then she sees a party request notification sent by Rory and looks at her confused.

''Ara~ I was just joking Asuna-chan~, welcome to the group, let's get along~!''

Yeah, no. The last thing Asuna wanted right now was to get along with Rory.

But even so, Asuna accepted the invitation, she had to control a lot her finger which was instinctively going to the ''Decline'' button

Asuna suddenly feels a hand on her shoulder, she looks to the side and sees Silica, who was holding a bread with cream eated halfway. Silica looks at Asuna with comforting eyes.

''Don't worry too much, after the hundredth time she teases you, you start to get used to it!''

Asuna really wanted to go back on her decision now.

''Okay, have you formed your teams?'' Diabel looks around and sees everyone with formed teams,, ''Then-''

''Wait a minute!''

A man suddenly appears and interrupts Diabel. He jumps down the bleachers and stops in front of Diabel, and Rory had to hold back her laugh at the sight of the man's ridiculous hairstyle.

Because of the sudden entry, all attention was directed at him.

''My name is Kibaou'' he introduces himself by pointing to himself, '' I want to say something before we face the boss.''

He looks at the stands, ''Some people here need to apologize to the two thousand players who have died so far!''

Everyone is confused by Kibaou's statement, but Kirito seems to tense up.

''Kibaou-san,'' Diabel interrupts him, ''Do you mean those who participated in the beta?''

''Of course I am! The day this shitty game started, those who tried the game before dumped us, beginners, and disappeared!''

He continues, '' They took the good places to hunt, and the easier missions, just to get stronger, and then they ignored us!''

''Tch!'' he looks at the stands angrily, '' I'm sure there are people here who participated in the beta! And these people should get down on their knees and apologize, and give away all the items and money they've got so far!''

''If not, we won't be able to trust them as team members, and neither should they trust us!'' he concludes.

Kirito has a grim expression on his face, Asuna and Silica don't seem to mind and Rory snorts at the pathetic speech.

''Can I spea-'' a bald black man stood up and opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

''Pathetic.'' An ice-cold voice spread through the coliseum.

Everyone looked at the source of the voice and saw a girl with black hair and pinkish red eyes.

Kirito, Asuna and Silica look at Rory in surprise.

''Wha?! What did you say?!'' Kibaou exclaims.

A predatory smile appears on Rory's face, ''I said you're pathetic, little man~''

A vein pops into Kibaou's forehead and he points at Rory, ''Pathetic?! You must be a Beta tester, don't you, bitch!!''

Rory's eyes turned bright red and she looked deep into Kibaou's eyes, he shivered and felt cold at that look of hers. Hearing him call her a 'bitch', Rory has promised herself that the second this man leaves a town, she will decapitate him.

''So what if I'm a Beta Tester~? I have a duty to take care of you because of it, little man~?''

Rory's words started to make people mutter.

''As a Beta Tester, should I bow my head and share my stuff with a pathetic trash like you, little man~?''

Kibaou couldn't tear his eyes away from Rory's eyes, and the more she spoke, the more he trembled.

''Should I gladly divide up the good hunting grounds just because you feel entitled to it, little man~?''

''Your cowardice is so pathetic it's disgusting. Split resources? Split hunting grounds? This isn't the preschool where everyone gives a helping hand and helps each other, this is now our world and every way for us to get stronger will be taken by someone if we not act first, this is how this world works. But if you're that scared of playing, you can always just kill yourself and end your pathetic life, li-ttle man~''

When she finished speaking, all the oppressive atmosphere Rory radiated towards Kibaou vanished and she gave a satisfied smile with a giggle. One of the things Rory hates the most is cowardly people, making them shiver in fear makes her really happy.

She knew that Agil, the black man who was about to speak, would contradict Kibaou too, but she didn't care, she is really disgusted by Kibaou cowardice.

The coliseum was silent and everyone was looking at Rory

Feeling the tension in his body disappear, Kibaou falls to the ground on his ass and looks at the ground with perplexed eyes, he is soaked with sweat and can't look Rory in the eyes anymore.

Asuna and Silica look at Rory in astonishment, they didn't think Rory would get involved in this kind of conversation, and Kirito, in addition to being surprised, was happy. As much as Rory wasn't defending him and just wanted to teach the man a little lesson, he was still glad someone contradicted the man's words.

Agil nodded at Rory's performance. He really prefers a less aggressive approach, but he also liked seeing that.

''Ehem....'' Diabel coughs to get everyone's attention, ''Can we get back to the subject?'' he looked at the bleachers, and everyone nodded, '' First of all, I would like to say that there is a guide written by the Beta testers themselves, and that the latest edition of the guide has been released, and now it contains information about the boss of the floor.'' he takes a small book out of his pocket and shows it to everyone.

The players were surprised, it's the first time they've heard that the guide was actually made by Beta Testers. Everyone who had previously been reluctant to Kiabou's words began to see Beta Testers in a new light.

Diabel opens the book guide and starts reading to players, ''According to the guide, the boss's name is [IIIFang], the Lord Kobold, and he is defended by assistants known as the [Kobold Watchmen of the Ruins]. The boss is armed with an ax and a shield, he has four health bars, and when the last one goes into red, he changes to a curved sword called [Talwar] and his attack pattern also changes, and that's it.''

The players present are impressed with the amount of information that Beta testers have put in the guide, they are much more relaxed knowing the information about the first boss.

Diabel continues, ''Finally, the items will be distributed automatically. The EXP goes to the team that defeats the boss, and whoever receives an item will keep it.'' he looks at the players who are silent, ''Any objections?'' he saw no objection from the stands.

''Okay, we leave tomorrow at ten in the morning. See you there!'' he concludes.

The players started to disperse, and Kiabou was still on the ground.

Rory looked at him and licked her lips with a smile on her face.